Bobcat Crotch-Cam! Here I soak in the hot springs across the treacherous San Joaquin River from the Muir Trail Ranch. Four hours of pure sun kissed sulfur stinking bliss. And I won't even go into how nice the bubbles feel rolling up your legs...


I may be in the sun all day but my butt is pale as a ghost!


In case you weren't convinced hehehe. The water was about 100 degrees generally but there were little vents near the bottom where it was much hotter. That's where the bobcat put his sore paws.


A hot pool companion.


For all of the three other people I know on the PCT who are carrying a Steripen water purifier, I submit to you this means of using the Steripen hands-free. OK I understand that it only takes a minute and a half to treat a liter of water, but that's a minute and a half you could be using to pick your nose, your ear, your butt, etc. Or maybe just to stuff your sleeping bag in its sack and get some calories in you before you knock out nine or ten miles. It's simple. You just take a rubber band, wrap it around the top of the pen, twist it once, place anything long and rigid like a writing utensil, a twig, or a tent stake, etc inside the twist, and then pull the rubber band back over to the original side. There you have it, a strut that holds the Steripen out of your Nalgene or similar bottle while you go off and use your time more wisely than getting eaten alive by mosquitoes holding an ultraviolet light in your water. Problem solved.